The Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group works to help people whose rights have been violated and investigates cases involving such abuse, as well as assessing the overall human rights situation in Ukraine. The Group also seeks to develop awareness of human rights issues through public events and its various publications

Voting in the elections, citizens employ a President and pay his or her salary. They are therefore entitled to answers.

Several hundred people over the entire country took part in the flash mobs. They included well-known public figures, writers, philosophers, journalists, activists and students. Each participant during the flash mob put his or her question to Viktor Yanukovych with the appeal “Mr President, hear each person!”

The invitation to Mr Yanukovych to the Forum was passed to Hanna Herman by telephone during the action. The invitation by video recording from citizens from all 22 cities will be directly passed to the President on his first working day at the Presidential Secretariat on Friday.

The participants’ aim is that the Forum should become a new tradition in the relations between society and the authorities, resulting in constructive dialogue between the newly-elected President and the public.

The public hope that the President will swiftly reply to the invitation and will come to the Forum.

We ask journalists where possible to ascertain whether Viktor Yanukovych plans to take up our invitation. In the event of his refusal, participants are ready to register their protest.

The Forum is being organized by the civic campaign New Citizen www.newcitizen.org.ua This is a civic campaign with no party affiliation or political engagement. Its participants are more than 40 INDEPENDENT and well-known civic organizations http://newcitizen.org.ua/partners.

Its aim is to strengthen citizens’ impact on the political and social processes in the country.

A video of the flash mobs from all 22 cities will be posted at Youtube through 24-25 February here: